For the traditional retail car wash operator, the car wash is a family business. It’s not unusual to see the entire family chipping in to ensure the business runs successfully. But what if the next generation doesn’t want to run a car wash? Are there still great life lessons to be gained from the experience of folding towels and shoveling out pits?

For Allan Branch, it turns out there was plenty to be gained from the many Saturdays spent at his father Jimmy’s wash, Speedy Express, in Panama City, Fla. Branch, his brother and three sisters spent much of their childhood in and around the business. Their father, Jimmy, a past ICA president and second generation owner himself, ingrained the car wash industry in to his kid’s everyday lives. Now the founder of LessEverything, a five-year web startup, Branch can attribute many of his successes to the lessons he learned working in the wash.

“Up until a few years ago, I assumed my childhood was normal,” Branch said (a feeling that many next generation washers can probably relate to). “I thought, ‘don’t all kids work at the car wash on Saturdays, folding towels and scrubbing love bugs off of headlights?’” Even after leaving home for college, Branch worked at car washes in Gainesville, Fla., and Birmingham, Ala. At this point, anyone would have assumed that car washing was in his blood and was destined to play a significant role in his future. Branch, however, had other ideas.

Branching Out

He studied graphic design in college and began working in a new technology, Ruby on Rails, a web development platform. Soon thereafter, Branch and his partner, Steve Bristol, launched LessEverything, building web applications for small businesses. Branch soon realized that small businesses (much like the car wash he grew up in) had specific needs to help manage the business and created a web-based accounting application called LessAccounting. Their product’s website promotes the software by saying “all small business accounting software sucks, ours just sucks the least.” Since its inception, LessAccounting now has 30,000 users. Branch said, “My parents “forced” us to work at the car washes. They wanted us to get our hands dirty from cleaning up the messes of others. They knew that would humble us and help us as adults later in life.” Branch believes that his accounting solution is solving that very problem for small business owners and creating a streamlined way to manage bookkeeping.

Branch continued to grow his business and began a film company called LessFilms that produces web commercials for tech businesses. But he didn’t stop there. The community of web start-ups and developers is very tight, much like the car wash industry, and Branch and Bristol wanted to find a fun and innovative way to bring them together to share ideas. “My fondest memories I have are going to car wash conventions with my family,” Branch noted. “It was during those trips that my father taught me how to shake hands and look a person in the eye when I introduced myself. I remember following my dad around the expo hall, watching and listening to him talk to industry vendors and peers.”

In 2009, with only seven weeks notice, Branch and Bristol held their first LessConf. They had 85 attendees, which grew to more than 200 in 2010 and 2011. LessConf is not your conventional conference, but there are speakers and educational
sessions and many of the things you would expect from a traditional conference. Branch and Bristol wished to bring a sense of fun to the event. They market the conference through tweets saying, “You should only attend if you like pudding, karate chops and lasers, in that order” and attendees are known as their super friends. It may sound a bit hokey, but they have created an environment that works for their industry. They have become celebrity-like among their developer peers and more and more people flock to attend their event each year.

Business Lessons

Branch attributes his strong business growth to another lesson he learned from the industry. “Business is hard, no matter what you’re trying to run,” Branch stated. “Outsiders look at our business and think, ‘It’s so easy! It’s soap and water! Look at that line of cars.’ But I’ve learned that building and growing a business (in addition to being an active father) is the hardest thing in the world. If you can manage being an entrepreneur and a good parent, you’re a hero.”

Of course, with all that Branch is doing outside of the car wash industry, he still keeps one toe in. He created and managed a discussion forum and community for car wash owners and operators known as TalkCarWash.com. He sees it as a place for owners and operators to share mistakes and victories with other. He believes that the industry “will benefit from everyone becoming teachers and students and being more involved.”

Branch has some technology advice for today’s owners and operators. “Customers now have a huge megaphone called social media. Things like Facebook, Google Reviews, Yelp and Twitter are all amplifiers. Yet it’s still the same — customers have always had opinions. The difference is, now it means a stay-at-home mom can tell her network of 500 local friends that your employees were rude to her. Opinions are more fluid now, so embrace it. You’re now able to connect to your customers faster and easier than ever. You can encourage your customer’s opinions or you can cower away from them. It’s your choice.”

LessConf, an atypical conference started by Branch and his partner, has been called a “summer camp for startups.”

Allan Branch, along with his brother and three sisters, spent much of their childhood in and around their father’s car wash business, Speedy Express.